The Sacred PipeBlack Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux

By: Joseph Epes Brown

Here is an unique account of the ancient religion of the Sioux Indians. Black Elk was the only qualified priest still alive when he gave the material in this book to Joseph Epes Brown during the latter's stay at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Beginning with White Buffalo Cow Woman's first visit to the Sioux to give them the scared pipe, he tells of the seven rites, which were disclosed to the Sioux through visions. The reader is led through the sun dance, the purification rite, the "keeping of the soul," and the other ceremonies, learning the Sioux have come to terms with God, nature, and their fellow men. Shortly before his death in August 1950, Black Elk said: "it is my prayer that through our sacred pipe, and through this book in which I shall explain what our pipe really is, peace may come to those peoples who can understand... Then they will realize that we Indians know the One true God, and that we pray to Him continually."